go over the fiscal cliff if republicans don't give in on higher taxes on the wealthy. you can see we're weighted to the up side by a ratio of 8:1 at the moment. finland is not trading today, so you may see some quotes not doing very well. we saw apple stock having the biggest loss in four years. the ftse yesterday slim gains really. up 0.4%, the dax up a quarter of a percent. is this a this is where we stand as we wait for the announcements from the ecb. we're up at a 52 week high for the xetra dax. cac 40 up half a percent and ibex up half a percent, as well. take a look at bond yields. we looked at that auction yesterday from spain. they raised 4.3 billion. years went lower. nevertheless spanish yields today 5.4%, slightly lower from where we closed, but they did move up substantially after a handle of 5.2. we'll keep our eye on gilts, as well. we'll look ahead to the bank of england. nothing expected from them, of course. 1.8%. david miles was the only man who voted for more qe at the last meeting. as far as currency rates are concerned, euro-dollar at the moment 1.3068, just b

aftermath of the storm. >> 4:49 right now. 29 days before we reach the fiscal cliff. republicans and democrats are locked in a war of words. negotiators are meeting behind closed doors to hash out a deal. president obama tried to put more pressure on republicans on thursday. he visited a family in virginia to highlight the impact of government spending cuts on the middle class. >> because democrats and republicans are not coming together to solve this problem -- >> republicans say they will support raising revenue by closing loopholes. >> therightward legislation. -- has pushed forward a right to work legislation. union activists shouted during the debate. several were arrested. the legislation prevents unions and from collecting fees from non-union workers. michigan's governor said he will sign the bill. >> 4:51 right now. up next, a new role for >> 4:53. let's take a look at weather. clacks good morning. we have a damp start to some areas. not much in the district, to the southeast. this is all very light. a little bit of paint showing at the mason dixon line. a little bit of snow

" when it comes to the fiscal cliff. but tim geithner just told cnbc that we're going to go over the cliff unless tax rates go up. at the same time, two dozen republican house members signed a bipartisan letter with democrats defecting from the boehner plan. in the meantime, a nice game for the day for the dow, but a stunning selloff for apple. do you know what? fiscal cliff or not, the s&p 500 is up 12% year to date. that is a handsome gain for investors, an optimistic year, believe it or not. and we already bailed out detroit's auto industry. but now, at least one motown politician is telling president obama he should bail out detroit bankrupt city government, too. this sure isn't the free market, and i asked why should a texas taxpayer bail out detroit? >>> breaking news from syria, and it is a blockbuster. the assad regime is walking and loading its chemical weapons, ready to use them on its own people. nbc's chief pentagon correspondent joins us now. jim, is this the red line president obama was warning about? >> well, not quite yet. u.s. officials tell us that the syrian military is poised to use chemical weapons against their own people, and all it w

people were saying yesterday that i was talking to the democrats will not accept fiscal cliff resolution and one of the reasons is they can blame the republicans, the economy will come off next year, and it will set a base in 13 for 14 and 15 and the next election which will put the democrats in a much better position. you think about it politically, another four year run -- that's a cynical view. >> i hope they come together and find some solution. >> that's a view that we see in the uk. >> this is where we need presidential leadership to accomplish what clinton accomplish this had his second term. when that doesn't happen, they're not going blame 200 house members, they'll blame the person in charge. anyway, comments, questions about anything you see here on squawk. triangulate is a beautiful word if used properly. squawk@cnbc.com. rise before. i'm begging you. prove me wrong. coming up, we know diamonds are a girl's best friend, but are they good investments, too? [ male announcer ] what can you experience in a seat? inspiration. great power. iconic design. exhilarating performance. [ race announcer ] audi once again has created le mans history!

them. elsewhere, with only four weeks to go before we reach that fiscal cliff, republicans offer a proposal for a new deal. it had few specifics. the white house rejected it. tracie potts joins us from washington with the details. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. with a white house proposal and republican proposal on the table, you'd think we would have somewhere to begin negotiations. the white house says what republicans have offered isn't even a start. six governors, democrats, and republicans weigh in on the fiscal cliff today. what will they tell president obama about the spending cuts and tax increases now just 28 days away? >> we must reign in our out of control spending. >> reporter: republicans have an offer, $800 billion in new taxes, half what the president wanted. $600 billion saved in part by making americans wait until they're 67 to get medicare. plus more cuts totalling $2.2 trillion. but no tax hikes for the wealthy. >> that's just not going to happen. >> reporter: the pentagon could take the biggest hit from president obama told defense experts monday, don't wo

off the fiscal cliff unless republicans bend on taxes. a comment by former democratic potential candidate howard deen frightened republicans that the debate is not just about raising taxes on the rich. >> the truth is everybody needs to take more taxes, not just the rich. that's a good start, but we're not going to get out of the deficit problem unless we raise taxes across the board. to go back to what bill clinton had. >> now, some liberals pushed the president to invoke the 14th amendment claiming that gives him the executive power to raise the debt limit himself, but jay said today the white house studied that proposition and decided the president does not have that executive power meaning we headed for another show down with congress over raising the debt ceiling. lou: the fiscal cliff and now a new ultimatum on the national debt ceiling. you suppose this is the last condition? >> it's going to be a wild couple of months, maybe everybody thought with the election over, there was going to be peace and figure all of this out, but i think we're just at the beginning of a long

the fiscal cliff? >> republicans are committed to continuing to work with the president to come to an agreement to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. >> as both sides in washington try to hammer out agreements on taxes and fiscal spending, they get the full media treatment as the press try to pin the blame on the g.o.p. is it working? details next on news watch. okay, here's the plan. you have a plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my motr was so wrong about you. next, we get priory boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. there is no plan. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage card with speci perks on united. get it and you're in. why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer. i would recomme

enteain the debt ceiling debate in the broader fiscal cliff discussion, clear where he was on taxes on the wealthy, a president who came out, and from the beginning, suggesting he's not moving off of his basic requirements, and republicans came a coup of different times making, at least, gestures towards a compromise. i think that suggests where the leverage really lies in this debate and negotiations. >> chris, seemssthe president's doing everything but taking snuff as he makes degrees and pronouncements, and the republicans for e life of me don't have a response, a message to meet and deal with the president. >> well, this is the starving time for the republicans. this is the bad season -- unhappy christmas for the republicans with the goal to get to the fiscal cliff, and get beyond that so that they can get to the debt ceiling. the debt ceiling is where they have leverage, advantage, and where the president is asking to increase the debt ceiling beyond the 2 #.2 trillion, these are american dollars, the $2.2 trillion that he was granted in borrowing power back in august. the republicans have to get to the point where that's the fulcrum for the debate. the president wants it out now and do it. he would like an unconditiona

between democrats and republicans over the fiscal cliff heats up. >>> the trading session sitting roughly flat on the stoxx 600. decliners and advancers about even this morning. markets are trying to digest these comments from draghi. first, let's take a look at the bourses. s it is the last trading day of the month. just one left to go in this extraordinary 2012. ibex 35 appropriately enough is ending in the red today. other indexes showing a little bit of a rise here. we've seen spanish and italian debt come in sharply and the yields falling today. we saw the euro-dollar adding almost 0.3%s this morning. dollar-yen up two thirds of a percent in the light of perhaps japan may be getting moring a yes, sir sif on st ing a grefs saggressive on stim. let's get over to deidre wang morr morris. >> yes, the japanese data was good, but also the economy still stuck in deflation. hang seng down half a percent. we had pic stay in focus, not listed yet, but supposed to ipo on december 7th. they priced the range at the moment of their indicative range. it will be a 3.1 u.s. billion dollar ipo

"the five." thanks for watching. >> bret: ultimatum from the president on the fiscal cliff. this is "special report." ♪ ♪ >> bret: democrats and republicans agree on some things about the approaching budget deadline. both agree the other proposals are ridiculous and it's time for the other side to get serious. that is about it. today the president side seemed to dig in instead of give in. >> this is fairy dust. >> they blasted the debt proposal and vowed unless republicans give in on the tax rates, president obama let the nation fall off the fiscal cliff. >> republicans need to acknowledge reality here. rates have to go up. earlier in the presidency, obama warneded it could hurt the economy. >> the nation is no longer in recession. and american manufacturing contracted in november for the first time in three months. the president is concerned enough that he proposed tens of billions in new stimulus spending in the debt talks. >> what is the justification for raising taxes? >> the fact of the matter is that it's vitally important that we extent and the president's view make permanent tax cuts for 98% of the american people. >> the president woul

republicans over the fiscal cliff are grinding to a hold. house speaker john boehner dealing with division in the gop's ranks to his budget plan. we've got a shanghai surprise. china's mainland markets up over nearly 3% after beijing's new leaders called for economic stability and new business growth. and it looks like more austerity for britain. george osborne getting ready to release his autumn statement. >>> nokia shares a little bit high today. they are teaming up with china mobile, giving access to the world's biggest mobile phone markets. >>> if you just got up, very warm welcome to the start of your global trading day. stocks are on the front foot this morning. this is where we stand with u.s. futures. currently called up around about 30 points higher. the dow down, what, 13 points? the nasdaq called up just under 40 points. the s&p 500 at the moment is called up just over three points. it was down two points yesterday. european stocks doing a little built better. they were as flat as a pancake, as i've been saying. as flat as my pancakes. we have just come down from higher

over the fiscal cliff. >> republicans do not want to touch one hair on the head of one person making over $250,000. that is the rub. >> they've got to come with some specific revenue. they refuse to do that. >> reporter: even other republicans are split on john boehner's plan to avoid tax hikes all together and admit negotiations are going nowhere. >> nothing going on privately that's not going on publicly. >> reporter: republicans say the president needs to meet them halfway. >> he's got to be serious. he's offered more spending, more stimulus than offering any new cuts. >> reporter: and they insist there's good reason why people making over $250,000 a year should not pay more. >> when you raise tax rates, you're impacting the small businesses that create the jobs in this country. >> reporter: the back and forth is unsettling for the nation's governors, democrats and republicans came to washington tuesday with one message. >> you've got the to come together and get this done. >> reporter: and better do it quickly because we hit the cliff in 27 days. >> the clock is ticking. t

, rick. >>> 31 days left for lawmakers to reach a fiscal cliff deal. cnbc is heading to the home states of key congressional leaders involved in negotiations. today john harwooden in kentucky. senate republican leader mitch mcconnell's home state to find out how the fiscal cliff is impacting constituents there. >> reporter: in the senate, the challenges is bringing together red states and blue states. mitch mcconnell's kentucky is horse country. of the states represented by top congressional leaders, it's the reddest of all. >> among the top leaders of congress involved in fiscal cliff negotiations, the one facing the most home state pressure may be senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. he faces re-election in kentucky, a state where the tea party movement is alive and well. president obama may have won this election but two years ago leaders of the tea party movement elected ron paul's son rand as kentucky senator over an establishment republican. one leader of that movement who runs a high-end audio equipment business says they could do the same thing in 2014, and this time take out mitch mcconnell if he agrees to raise taxes. >> we shall not raise taxes in this country. we do not have a reve

the fiscal cliff will impact their states and possible solutions. it's also expected to meet with house republicans, as well, this week. >>> and oracle is amongst the latest of speeding up their dividend pay outs to avoid possible tax hikes because of the fiscal cliff. they will pay dividends a total of 18 cents a share for the next three quarters. larry ellison didn't take part in the decision, but he will benefit. he own as 23% stake in the company, so he'll receive around $198 million. yes, you heard it right. oracle stock down 0.8% despite that in frankfurt. still to come, interest rates in australia are moving down. down under. find out what central bank is worried about when we come back. >>> australia central bank held its rate setting meeting. matthew taylor has the details. >> the market had been pricing in a 25 basis point rate cut and the reserve bank delivered with an early christmas present. central bank lowering the cash rate to 3%, this is the lowest level since the height of the global financial crisis back in 2009. the rba says while it's still waiting to seat impact of its previous 15

bear the brunt of the blame for what would happen if we go over the fiscal cliff. the president is counting on that. >> which republicans? boehner doesn't get -- some of these guys go back to the auto parts shop where they came from before they were a tea party republican, wherever they -- you can't -- it's not a monday know lit. you can't get mad at the house. >> people pointed out some of the republicans were there and congress don't care. >> no, why would they? >> i don't necessarily think president obama cares that much either. his leg legacy is about obamacare, redistribution. and you can't control the economy. you can divide the pie better, but it will have these cycles. bush messed things up. i did the best i could, but he'll redistribute and that will happen, we'll spread the wealth around. and i don't think he cares that much about it. >> you don't think he cares about -- >> his chief of staff during the cry says said you'll be -- this is job one, the crisis. and he go that's not enough. he wants to be transformative. i don't know. we'll see. i asked the first time around why isn't he more concerned with job growth, pri

america's economy at stake. president obama's initial offer on the fiscal cliff was resoundingly rejected by republicans. it included a $1.6 trillion tax increase, double what he campaigned on. also included $400 billion in entitlement cuts eliminating the need for congressional approval to a raise the debt ceiling. the markets rebounded later in the week following the latest hopes on a fiscal cliff agreement. america's economy grew at a faster pace than initially expected in the third quarter of the year. the second reading of the gross domestic product showed it at rate of 2.7% spurred by stronger inventories and exports. the securities and exchange commission is looking for a new chairman. mary shapirp schapiro announcin she will step down after nearly four years on the job. the obama administration says it will announce a replacement in the near future. >>> starbucks has a new way to spend a lot of money. it is introducing the most expensive blend made from a rare costa rican variety named geisha. it is $7 a cup and only available in 48 stores. if you order one, drink it slowly and enjoy every sip. >>>

to say about the impact of the fiscal cliff is uncertainty. also ahead -- >> i don't understand his brain, so you should ask him. >> senate majority leader harry reid digging in his heels, referring to house speaker john boehner when asked about the republican's position that the ball is in the democrat's court. he said he doesn't understand his brain. we'll hear what reid's nevada constituents think about the job he's doing. >>> also, could our debt mean the death of the dollar bill? i don't mean the value of the dollar. i mean the actual dollar bill. it may be on the endangered species list. stay with us. back in a moment. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the market, he goes with people he trusts, which is why he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime him with hidden fees. so he can worry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. >>> welcome back. chevron ceo john watson telling me exclusively today that the second largest u.s. energy company is moving forward on investments despite fiscal cliff concerns. we begin on our conversation, zeroing in on lawm

governors today on urgent talks to avoid that fiscal cliff. republicans and democrats in congress appeared no closer to a compromise. here's abc's tahman bradley. >> reporter: congressional republicans' counterproposal was dead on arrival. the white house quickly rejected the $2.2 trillion deficit reduction plan, that would raise $800 billion in tax revenue over the next decade. but the plan calls for raising the revenue without raising tax rates on top income earners, something the white house views as unacceptable. during a photo op, the president avoided questions about the gop plan. >> no deal better than a bad deal, sir? >> reporter: a senior white house official called the proposal a step backwards. saying if republicans do not agree to some higher tax rates for the wealthy, the nation will go over the fiscal cliff, and the american people will hold them responsible. democrats also take issue with the proposal's spending cuts to medicare and social security. republican counter that tough cuts are needed to tackle the soaring debt, leaving washington locked in a stalemate, le

much. >>> as talks over the fiscal cliff continue, you will want to hear what republican senator rand paul had to say about deficit reductions and the controversial norquist tax pledge. >>> also ahead -- >> still to come, with the fiscal cliff getting closer. >> if i was involved in a negotiation like that and everybody was purporting to be where they are, i would say an agreement was reachable. >> former centr [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. [ male announcer ] the way it moves. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up tha

it has been called the fiscal cliff. our coverage starts on the white house lawn tonight with major garrett. major. >> reporter: scott, the saesident said for the first time, there is a two-step process to averting the fiscal cliff. republicans must act now to prevent a tax increase for households earning less than $250,000. do that now, president obama said, and he and congress can work out the details of spending cuts later. ( applause ) before a crowd of supporters, the white house invited from the mid-atlantic region, president obama put congressional republicans on notice. >> it's too important for washington to screw this up. now is the time for us to work on what we all agreed to, which is lets keep middle class taxes low. that's what our economy needs. that's what the american people deserve. gd if we get this part of it right, then a lot of the other issues surrounding deficit reduction in a fair and balanced, responsible way are going to be a whole lot easier. >> reporter: white house officials say mr. obama is not interested in personally meeting with congressional republicans because those meetings did little to resolve the 2010 debt ceiling crisis. but when mr. obama later skipped congressional meetings and campaigne

in the fiscal cliff balance, for that let's turn to our distinguished guests. peter goodman. he's the huffington post business editor on a former "new york times"man. we welcome back republican congresswoman nan hayworth and haddy heath, senior policy analyst with the independent women's forum. okay. so mcconnell laughed at the tim geithner proposal. and john boehner says we're at a stalemate. and president obama himself is kind of getting ugly about this enemy's list. we've seen this before from him. my proposal is, republicans have to come with a counter offer. right now. there's no point in blasting obama. just a counter offer. i want to read from today's newspaper. this is what mitch mcconnell said. "higher medicare premiums for the wealthy, an increase in the medicare eligibility age, and a slowing of costs of living increases for programs like social security. and then republicans would agree to include more tax revenue in the deal but not from higher tax rates." now, let's just look at this for a second. we'll go to you first, nan. he wants medicare eligibility, he wants medicaid reforms, he wants spending cuts. then he'll talk revenues. that seems reasonable to me. is he going to

might be a deal on the horz ton avoid the fiscal cliff, the fact that the republicans put out an offer, like their old offer before the president won re-election, it does feel like the two sides are talking, but they appear to be talking past each other. the clock is ticking in washington. ticking against a dealing. i think the two sides seem to hate each other more than ever. i don't now, it seems like the last 72 hours i was hoping it was going to get better and it seems like it got worse. i spent a ton of time this weekend hanging with old college chum, grover norquist. he's as certain as ever that republicans who have impure thoughts about violating his no new tax pledge will be targeted at the primary level by tea party members. i'm taking this masterful behind-the-scenes player at his word that he controls almost all the republicans. because almost all of them signed his oath. so a deal could be tough. plus i'm now calling for no vacation without legislation. no vacation without legislation. because the holidays are slated to begin in a couple of weeks. which doesn't give enough

taking his fifth fiscal cliff plan on the road today if you will and there is a shot of him in pennsylvania. the president is speaking there. this comes fresh after republicans rejected his offer. >> yeah. that's right, scott. the president just got a tour of this toy factory in pennsylvania within the past couple minutes and now is speaking. we're told what he is going to say in this speech is that he wants a deal which raises taxes on the wealthy and he'll specifically say he wants a deal that raises tax rates on the wealthy not just limits deductions and other things. interestingly, scott, on the air force flight over there a white house spokesman briefed reporters and told them he was surprised republicans were so surprised about the details of the president's offer yesterday because the president talked about so much of this stuff early on. i can tell you that offer went over like a lead balloon here on capitol hill. republican members of congress were not thrilled with $1.6 trillion in new taxes and $50 billion in new stimulus style spending. that's what the president laid down on the table yesterday. obviously it's just a marker and a first opening ploy in the

white house offer to resolve the fiscal cliff was anything but flattering. one republican called the offer an insult. both sides are digging in their heels on raising taxes on upper income earners. the white house proposal includes $1.6 trillion in taxes over a decade, 400 billion for medicare, 50 billion in stimulus spending and the end of congressional control over the debt ceiling. susan mcginnis is in washington with more. good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, terrell, good morning. the president's opening salvo there was not well received by republicans. they balked at his plan. he's taking his message to middle class americans at a factory that makes toys. it's a trip republicans are calling an irritant. president obama leaves the white house this morning to head to a toy factory in pennsylvania. he'll tell americans the fiscal cliff will cause holiday shopping to plummet. >> let's give a christmas present to the american people. >> reporter: but the mood here on capitol hill is anything but festive. both sides say the tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in at year end are

work? think of this chart as the politician's guide to solving the fiscal cliff and remaining in office. the net percent acceptable minus the percent that is unacceptable to give us a net number and we can show you that by democrats, republicans and independents. what you see is maybe not surprising. raising taxes is the most acceptable thing if you added up for everybody here. look at that little bit of red here, only net unacceptable to republicans by a little bit, go a little further n fact a cap on deductions for those making $250,000 and more that is net acceptable to republicans, that's the red there, the second most. cap on deductions for everybody being the third most, every other solution here is net unacceptable to the public. in fact if you look at this red thing here, just zoom in there, reducing military spending is the most unacceptable thing for republicans. moving along, reducing non-defense spending and come down to the least acceptable thing for everybody involved is reducing medicare spending. you want to know how to fix the fiscal cliff? you have to raise taxes on those 250 above and cap deductions and a cap in deductions on everybody loon looks to be marginally acceptable. we'll have a chance to talk about th

over the fiscal cliff. republicans are urging the republicans to stand against the tax increase. we are 30 days from going over the fiscal cliff . both sides are pointing fingers and blaming each one for the stalemate. but the real losers is you and me, the american taxpayer if the taxpayers can't come to a compromise. steve has more on the part of the grid lock. >> hi, uma. one month away from the critical deadline and there appears to be very little movement to a deal. the president is using the bully pulpit and appeal to the american people and pushing to extend the bush era tax cuts but those making $250,000. a year. democrats want high tax rates for the wealthy. the president stressed the urgency of the situation in the radio address. >> if congress does nothing. every family will see the income taxes go up in the beginning of next year. a family of four will see income taxes rise $2200. we can't let that happen. our families can't afford it and neither can our economy. >> but republicans say the president should quit his campaign mode and come home and take care of business. t

it goes over the fiscal cliff republicans are prepared to make the middle class pay more tax paying more. and that is a very bad position for the republicans to find themselves in isn't it? >> sit a very bad position for them to find themselves in. the fact of the matter is, it isn't true. the taxes on the wealthiest americans, it doesn't address the core problems. the $16 trillion comes from government over spending and we have slow growth. raising the taxes on anybody whether it is on the poor or the other americans doesn't solve the problem. let's get in and figure out what the key problems are and solve those. i made an analogy earlier to giving a kid more allowance. i stopped paying them. >> i mean un believable. so kate, middleton, is in hospital with this morning sickness and revealed that she is pregnant and some dumb aussie dejay rings up with this accent and they think it is the queen of england land. have you ever heard of something so ludicrous? >> i thought it was you. >> of all the problems in the world this is not the most serious one. >> obviously, they are not the o

slowly coming off in the battle over how to get off the fiscal cliff. republicans call president bam become's opening proposal ludicrous. and absurd. the president is going public to try to ridicule the g.o.p. lawmakers to accepting the tax hikes now. >> i miss visiting towns like this. >> president obama got his wish, rather than negotiating with republicans he was hamering them. back on the campaign trail in a factory that makes angry bird toys. >> it's not accept to believe me and i don't think it's acceptable for you for republicans in congress to hold middle class tax cuts hostage because they don't want the tax rates on the upper income folks to go up. >> within minutes, john boehner fired back the talks are on life support. >> let's not kid ourselves. >> boehner ripped the president for sending treasury secretary ti tim geithner to capitol hill with a proposal that led mitch mcconnell literally burst out laughing. >> the white house took three weeks to respond with any kind of proposal. and much to my disappointment, it wasn't a serious one. >> their beef is the president camp

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work to do. a looming fiscal cliff and what are we hearing? as republican senator jeff sessions says -- >> a lot of flimflam. >> flimflam. we told you last night that treasure secretary tim geithner hop-scotched his way down pennsylvania avenue to bring the president's proposal from the white house to capitol hill and instead of offering compromise, he leapt to the extreme. in case you forgot, here's what his plan does. his plan taxes $1.6 trillion of taxes. higher tax rates on people, families making more than $250,000 as well as closing loopholes, limiting deductions, raising the estate tax rate and increasing the taxes on capital gains and dividends. and the plan spends nearly $200 billion. another stimulus package of 50 billion. an extension of unemployment insurance benefits estimated around $30 billion and an extension of the payroll tax cut estimated at about $114 billion. but the geithner plan didn't cut spending. in return for all of that, the president offered $400 billion in cuts to medicare and other entitlement programs. today john boehner basically said, go fish. >> was

. how do you view fiscal cliff discussions? >> i was pretty optimistic until about three days ago. my sense was republicans had lost enough ground, they wanted to get a new deal before they got weaker. they admitted that there has to be some revenue. meanwhile the obama team led by secretary geithner are comfortable with at least 2:1 what they would call entitlement cuts. so there was a lot of ground for a deal. unfortunately, i think the threats from some democratic leaders that maybe it's okay to go over the fiscal cliff, i'm worried some actually believe that and that's one thing that scares me. i think there's a deal on the table, get a few years deal, it's only if -- obviously the republican caucus could do something stupid, but owes otherwise my main word is the dems decide they want to play for a long term deal that it all has to be resolved right now and it's worth the risk and i don't think it's worth the risk. >> adam, always good to see you. thank you very much indeed. we move on, stay in the united states, strike at the port of los angeles long beach is entering its seventh day and some analysts fe

printing. >>> welcome back. >> welcome back. >> yesterday the white house fiscal cliff proposal made top senate republican mitch mcconnell laugh, we are told. >> today the rhetoric continued. eamon javers breaks down all the hardball offers and the reactions in washington. over to you, eamon. >> hi, guys. we got a lot going on here in washington this week. a lot of horse trading. we dealt with a lot of the spee speech. the white house is saying they'd like to see $1.6 trillion in tax increases up front here. they'd like to continue the payroll tax credit. they want a permanent increase in the debt limit and a one-year extension of expanded jobless benefits. they want at least $50 billion in spending as a stimulus to the economy. that was the white house ask that prompted that laugh from mitch mcconnell when tim geithner gave it to him yesterday. today in an interview with "the wall street journal," mcconnell floated his own balloon of what he'd like to see. here are some of the elements. mcconnell saying they want changes to entitlement eligibility. they would agree to more tax revenue, yes, but not higher rate

europe. our road map this morning starts with what else? the fiscal cliff. the president heads to a pennsylvania toy factory pressing his case for a proposal that actually leaked last night seeking 1.6 trillion in tax hikes. republicans in morning balking and cliff fears prompt another company to issue a dividend and it's whole foods. >> owner of taco bell, kfc, have warned that sales hit the skids. the shares yesterday hit a fresh high. >>> facebook unlikes zynga. zynga shares are plummeting this morning on the news. >>> never an ego boost for the ceo when the stock falls on the news that he's keeping his job. that's exactly what's happening with groupon as the board keeps andrew mason. >>> the president heading to a pennsylvania factory this morning. republicans have given a thumbs down to the president's plan which includes a $1.6 trillion tax increase, 50 billion in infrastructure spending for next year and limited entitlements cuts. more companies issue special dividends. whole foods will pay $2 a share. kbw yesterday. what's more interesting to you, jim? the cliff discussion and madness or the notion that these companies said we were not managing our balance sheet in the most efficient way. >> i'm a huge fan of wh

anti-mustache. >> are the media cheering for a leap off the fiscal cliff? >> republicans are committed to continuing to work with the president to come to an agreement to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. >> as both sides in washington try to hammer out agreements on taxes and fiscal spending, they get the full media treatment as the press try to pin the blame on the g.o.p. is it working? details next on news watch. [ male announcer ] take dayquil... [ ding! ] ...and spend time on the slopes. take alka-seltzer plus cold & cough... [ buzz! ] ...and spend time on the chair. for non-drowsy 6-symptom cold & flu relief. take dayquil. use nyquil d... [ ding! ] ...and get longer nighttime cough relief. use tylenol cold multisymptom nighttime... [ coughs ] [ buzz! ] [ screams ] ...and you could find yourself... honey? ...on the couch. nyquil d. 50% longer cough and stuffy nose relief. . >> our ultimate goal is an agreement that gets our long-term deficit under control in a way that's fair and balanced. and that kind of agreement would be good for our businesses, it'd be good for our

who use them. republicans have responded to a fiscal cliff counter offer to president obama. eamon javers joins us now from washington with all the details. good evening. >> reporter: good evening. leapt me walk you through the specifics or at least what specifics we have so far from this boehner counter offer and you can see where it falls short from the white house's perspective right in the top line take a look at the details here. boehner and the other house republicans are asking for $800 billion in new tax reform revenue. that's short of the $1.6 trillion that the president would like to see there. also health savings of $600 billion. mandatory savings of $300 billion. revisions of cpa of 200 billion. other discretionary saving 300 billion. they say net savings is $2.2 trillion all told. the white house says this plan is not balanced, and interestingly there's a little side skirmish here between the speaker of the house john boehner and erskine bowls. boehner said this was based on a report that bowles laid out. bawls said no. he said the approach laid out does not represent

: the cost of president obama's arrogance could be off the fiscal cliff. he is deeply liberal, deeply ideological, reckless, irresponsible and no interest in seriously negotiating with the republican party and he's now putting partisan politics ahead of what is good for america. even the "washington post" is calling him out saying he has no intention to negotiate. writing: >> sean: let me repeat, the offer lacks any concessions. if you want the most recent concrete evidence of how irresponsible president obama is, you need look no further than his opening bid in budget talks. the proposal awd to republicans late yesterday courtesy of tax cheat geithner calls for the following: 1.6 trillion dollar tax increase, increasing rates on incomes over $250,000. 150 billion dollars in new public stimulus spending of which 50 billion would be spent next year. another extension in unemployment benefits, 30 billion. new power to raise the federal debt limit without congressional approval. in other words, an obama blank cheque. that is not all. he also wants the estate tax to be levied at 45% on inheritances a step even democratic senators are balking on this current is 35%. the obama offer contained

show how the republicans and their plan, specifically on the fiscal cliff will allow people to move from the middle class into the upper class and allow even more people after that to move out of middle class and into the upper class. growth would be a great thing both on a personal level and an economic level as well. >> last one, senator rand paul is not going to filibuster in the senate. he's going to let the thing go through, he's going to vote against it. do you think republicans in the house, katie, should vote present and let the democratic bill go through? >> i'm all for the republicans voting present. mr. dean just last night said having us go over the fiscal cliff actually wouldn't be the worst of ideas. if that's how we're going to go and president obama has said that he's not going to sign anything without the tax increase, fine, let them own it. have republicans take a step back and give president obama what he wants. >> i've got to get out. thanks to both of you. >> thank you. >> howard dean, we preeshtd it. and katie pavelich, we appreciate it. >>> egypt's government

deeling witt a host of fiscal issues, we're tryyng to preveet our country from going off the fiscal cliff." senator republican colleaaues would &plike to seeebudget cuts....or the massive storm clean-up. preporter: "without offsets ii it going to have trouble getting ppssed do you think in this current climate?") "i think it might, i think it might,,you can't predict that." the uncertain fate of thh relief money comes little more thhn a month afterrthat jaw-dropping pre-ellction image of christie and the president... shoulder to shoulder... a time when r. victims... quickly. "i wann you to cut ttrough red tape. i want you to ut through bureaucracy. here's no excuse for inaction at this point." the white houue says the president remains committed. "there is no question as the president saw when he was on staten issand that there is enormoos suffering that pootinues and that's why we are worring closell with psates and localities to continue the effort to assist &pin the recovery." "a top congressional aide tells cnn the administration's prooosal. and a white house official tells cnn... the white house numbers. as for chr

low end of the day, down 63 points. more on the republicans' counterproposal on the fiscal cliff coming your way as we get under way with the second hour of the "closing bell" with maria bartiromo. i'll see you tomorrow. >>> hello, 4:00 on wall street. do you know where your money is? welcome back to "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo on the floor of the new york stock exchange. happy monday to you. this market beginning the new month lower as the gop today puts out a counteroffer on the fiscal cliff. take a look at how we're finishing the day on the wall street. dow jones under water with decline about 60 point. 12,966. last trade on the index. nasdaq gave up some ground today, to the tune of eight points finishing at 3002 on the session. and the s&p 500 down 6.70 points at 1409. >>> december a historically good month for the markets. the s&p has risen 8 of the past 1 years in the final month of yeert. with fears of the looming fiscal cliff, can the trend continue? we're bringing in mike from yahoo! finance and cnbc and yahoo! have a business alliance to share and co-produce ed

ever seen on the fast approaching fiscal cliff. in the last hour house republicans presented a counteroffer to the president's plan including $800 billion in savings through tax reform with no tax rate hikes. john boehner blasting the president's, quote, la la land offer. that just moments after the president took his plan to the people answering questions about the fiscal cliff on twitter, and with less than a month to go, the white house dispatched treasury secretary tim geithner to five sunday talk shows to declare tax rates on the wealthy are going up one way or another. >> if the republicans say, sorry, no way are we going to raise rates on the wealthy. you guys are willing to go off the fiscal cliff? >> it republicans are not willing to let rates go back up, and we think they should go back to the clinton levels, a the a time when the american economy was doing exceptionally well, then there will not be an agreement. >> while geithner was drawing a line in the sand, house speaker john boehner was busy trying to lift his jaw off the flar after geithner presented the presid

republicans pitch their plan to avoid the fiscal cliff and like the president's plan they don't expect to win over the opposition. a sfl senate fight. will republicans reject a personal plea from their former leader bob dole. he's making a rare visit to the senate floor to make his case. and now that we've had a whole month to digest that election day data, where you'll find those who voted for every presidential winner since 1956. that's in today's deep dive. i'm chuck todd feeling a little clogged up as you might hear. the fiscal cliff counteroffer has one thing in common. the differences between the new republican plan and what the white house proposed are stark when it comes to taxes. the gop calls for $800 million in new taxes. it's half of what the white house asked for. republicans to $67 billion. the gop plan changes how security benefits would be calculated. why he favors tax rates instead of eliminating deductions. not enough revenue. less revenue equals more cuts in education. republicans ruled that out saying the new revenue would not be achieved through higher tax rates which we continue to oppose. they were referring to an erskine bowles plan

there's a fiscal cliff crisis. >> right. they perspectively -- they perspectively blame republicans for it and in part from folks like demint. dave weigel for "slate" and msnbc contributor. thank you for being here tonight, my friend. >> thank you. >>> lame duck session means different things in different parts of the country. in one state, lame duck means shockingly bold action by the government. a lot of people calling it lame and other people ducking. it's big news and a serious conflict in the state of michigan. and one wedding, 2 kids, 43 bottles of olay total effects and many birthdays later, still looks amazing. thanks to the trusted performance of olay. or treat gas with these after you get it. now that's like sunblock before or sun burn cream later. oh, somebody out there's saying, now i get it! take beano before and there'll be no gas. >>> still ahead, red lobster, olive garden, and the affordable care act. the trifecta america has been waiting for and it includes breadsticks. >>> there was a group of protesters who we are told by the state police rushed to police officers trying

cliff. joining us to talk about this, we're going to get a gop response, senate republican conference chairman john thune of south documeakota. welcome back to the show. "the washington post" runs an editorial today saying it's time for the president to unveil some leadership on entitlement reforms and spending cuts because he hasn't done it. i want to ask you at the president's pep rally today, did you hear any of those leadership reforms on spending and entitlements? >> i certainly didn't and, by the way, good evening, larry, it's nice to be with you again. i don't find myself often agreeing with the editorial page of "the washington post" but this time they had it right. the president right now, the pep rally today is going out again on friday is really a continue ways of the campaign when in fact right now what he ought to be doing is trying to find some common ground with republicans, with congress up here on capitol hill because we've got to do something to avert this fiscal cliff. the only way we do that obviously is to come up with a package that addresses what really drives f

. eamon javers joins us with the latest on the fiscal cliff negotiations in washington. eamon. >> and this is a big one, melissa. "the wall street journal" reporting just within the past few seconds here that according to republican congress aides who have talked to the wall street journal, they say they've obtained a copy of the white house's proffer here in the fiscal cliff negotiations. this is the proffer that apparently treasury secretary tim geithner was talking to republican leaders about today. wall street journal citing a number of specifics from this proposal. let me walk you through them and lay out the implications starting with what aides describe as the white house wanting $1.6 trillion in tax increases up front as part of any new deal. the white house wanting to continue the payroll tax credit or similar policy. the white house saying that it wants a permanent increase in the debt limit and pushing a one-year extension of jobless benefits plans. this one will be the kicker, i think, to any deal that might or might not get hashed out on capitol hill. "the wall street journal" reporting that republican aides are saying that the white house would like to see at least $50 billion in new spending to spur the eco

republicans if we go over the fiscal cliff at the end of the month. john harwood is live, good morning. >> good morning, we're tracking what pressure exists from the public from voters on members of congress on the administration for resolving the fiscal cliff and there are a couple of findings i want to run through. first of all there is more public pressure on republicans to compromise than on democrats. if you look at the results of the survey, 20% of americans say the message of the election was that republicans need to compromise with the president. 9% said that the message was that president obama needs to compromise and the plurality, 44% said both ought to compromise. those results aren't so surprising because president obama won the election but if you look at the number who would be to blame if we don't get a deal, you see 21% blame the president and democrats in congress, 23% blame republicans, pretty even, 52% says they blame both of them. some other surveys have shown president obama with a stronger hand. we looked democrats in congress together with the president, any tim

, the so-called "fiscal cliff". the president took to the road, while republicans warned there's a deadlock in efforts to reach a deficit deal. >> now, of course, santa delivers everywhere. i've been keeping my own naughty and nice lists for washington. >> warner: the president chose a seasonal setting, a toy factory in hatfield, pennsylvania, and holiday imagery to press again for extending tax cuts for the middle class. >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1. i mean, i... i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to you. >> no. >> that's sort of like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> warner: in washington, republicans portrayed the road trip as so much humbug, at a time, they said, when negotiations are going nowhere. >> there's a stalemate. let's not kid ourselves. >> warner: house speaker john boehner said republicans remain willing to raise revenues, but not by raising tax rates. and he charged the white house isn't negotiating in good faith. >> the day after the elec